Chignon foundation

ABSTRACT

A chignon foundation or so-called rat is here formed of a knit sleeve of resilient nylon rolled into itself so as to have a central through opening. A captive rubber band surrounds the opening. In use, the wearer pulls her medium long hair through the opening, then spreads the hair over the foundation and pins it in place. The knit nylon foundation imparts to the chignon the soft and resilient feel of a chignon formed wholly of a greater quantity of the wearer&#39;&#39;s hair.

United States Patent Sidelman [S4] CHIGNON FOUNDATION [72] Inventor: Abraham Sidelrnan, PO. Box 589,

Manchester, Ga. 31816 [22] Filed: March 1, 1971 l21| Appl. No.: 9,592

[52] U.S. C1 ..l32/55, 132/46 R, 132/49 [5 1] Int. Cl. ..A41g 5/00 [58] Field of Search ..132/55, 49, 46 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,765,798 10/1956 Carvell ..l32/55 2,524,255 10/1950 Goldsmith 1 32/49 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 183,519 10/1955 Austria ..l32/46 R 1451 Sept. 26, 1972 26.670 12/1903 Great Britain ..l32/49 Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-J. N. Eskovitz Attorney-Paul S. Martin ABSTRACT A chignon foundation or so-called rat is here formed of a knit sleeve of resilient nylon rolled into itself so as to have a central through opening. A captive rubber band surrounds the opening. in use, the wearer pulls her medium long hair through the opening, then spreads the hair over the foundation and pins it in place. The knit nylon foundation imparts to the chignon the soft and resilient feel of a chignon formed wholly of a greater quantity of the wearer's hair.

5 Claims, 6 Drawing figures CIIIGNON FOUNDATION The present invention is concerned with chignon foundations.

An object of the present invention resides in providing a novel form of foundation for a chignon or bun which is economical to make and which, in use, simulates the look and feel of a bun formed wholly of the wearer's hair. Another object resides in a novel and economical method of making chignon foundations.

These objects and others are achieved in the illustrative embodiment of the invention described in detail below and shown in the accompanying drawings. That chignon foundation consists of a knit sleeve of resilient nylon monofilament or its equivalent, rolled up on itself (somewhat like a sleeve or stocking rolled up on a person s arm or leg) and contained within itself. The resulting form has a through central passage, and it has a rubber band surrounding the passage. In using this foundation, the wearer pulls her medium-long hair through the passage, spreads the hair over the foundation and tucks it into the central opening or pins it in place. The foundation receives hairpins and hobby pins just as if it were natural hair. Nylon of various hair colors may be used. The resulting bun is attractively full and pleasing to the touch, resembling a chignon formed wholly of natural hair.

The nature of the invention, including the foregoing and other novel features and advantages will be fully appreciated from the following detailed description of the illustrative embodiment that is shown in the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

FIG. I is a front view of a chignon foundation, representing the presently preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the foundation of FIG.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views of a length of tubular knit fabric and an elastic band thereon representing the first and second steps, respectively, of a presently preferred method of making the chignon foundation of FIGS. 1 and 2, FIGS. 3 and 4 being drawn to smaller scale than FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic cross-section of the chignon foundation of FIGS. 1 and 2, representing the final step of the method of FIGS. 3 and 4;

FIG. 6 illustrates the use of chignon foundations.

An exemplary chignon foundation is shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 5. It is readily made in the manner represented in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. At the start, an elastic ring 12, which here is an ordinary rubber band, is assembled to the approximate center of a length of tubular knit fabric 10 (FIG. 3). The elastic band has a diameter, in its unstressed state, that is much smaller than that of the fabric tube 10. Half of the tubular knit fabric 10 is turned inside out over band 12 (FIG. 4) so that band 12 is captive at the fold of a double-thickness sleeve of knit fabric. Starting at the end remote from band 12 in FIG. 4, the double-walled fabric is rolled on itself so that the knit fabric when shown in cross-section (FIG. 5) appears as two reverse double spirals 14a and 14b of the knit material. The successive convolutions support each other. At the center, the double-fabric spirals 14a and 14b at the top and bottom of this cross-section are separated from each other substantially to leave an open space at the center, forming a clear opening or passage through the foundation for admitting hair and for admitting the users fingers when a bun is being formed.

The double-walled sleeve can be rolled on itself inward or outward without any difierence il the end result. It assumes a rolled-up toroidal form (like a doughnut) in contrast to a sleeve that might be flattened and then rolled. The toroidal roll is contained in an outer cover, which is its own outennost convolution. In a practical example of the foundation alone, before in corporation into a chignon, the outside diameter is about 3 inches, the central passage of the rolled-up knit fabric has a diameter of roughly l inch, and the diameter of the rubber band unstressed is one-half of an inch.

A synthetic monofilament that is prominently resilient and which resists permanent deformation is used in making the sleeve, especially nylon certain commercially available grades. Where the sleeve is made by knitting, the monofilament becomes sinuous, curly, having innumerable small loops in the knitted sleeve. As a result, the whole chignon foundation buffs out but is soft and resiliently compressible. It is easily penetrated by hair pins and bobby pins. It can be made in various hair colors.

FIG. 6 illustrates the application of the invention. The wearer draws her medium long hair through the central passage in the foundation which tends to stay in place during further operations by virtue of the elastic band. The hair is then spread over the foundation in all directions to form a chignon or bun. It can re-enter and be tucked into the central passage in the same direction that the hair was first drawn through the foundation, or the spread-out hair can be pinned place. In forming the bun, the users fingers may enter and re-enter the central passage which becomes resiliently enlarged to receive the wearers hair and the users fingers during the operation of shaping the bun. Finally, the chignon 18 may be adorned by a snood 20.

The chignon containing the described foundation is pleasing to the touch, since the resilience of the foundation simulates that of the wearers natural hair. The foundation does not become permanently compacted so that it can be re-used indefinitely. It can be washed easily and dries quickly. It is economical to make, convenient to use, and pleasant to wear.

A highly successful example of the foundation described above consists entirely of the rubber band and the double-walled knit sleeve. The sleeve is knit of 250 denier resilient nylon monofilament round in crosssection, commercially available as "Rilsan.

Variations in the illustrative embodiment of the invention as described above will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Consequently the invention should be construed broadly in accordance with its full spirit and scope.

What is claimed is:

l. A chignon foundation, including a resilient synthetic fiber mass contained in a generally toroidal fabric cover and having a through center opening, and an elastic band secured to said cover about said opening.

2. A chignon foundation in accordance with claim 1, wherein said mass of synthetic fiber contained in said cover is a fabric sleeve of resilient synthetic monofilament rolled on itself in the form of a generally toroidal filler in said cover.

3. A chignon foundation in accordance with claim 1, wherein said cover and said contained mass are parts of a knit sleeve rolled into itself in a generally toroidal form.

4. A chignon foundation in accordance with claim 1, wherein said cover and said contained mass are parts of a knit fabric sleeve doubled over itself lengthwise to form two walls connected at an annular fold, the double-walled sleeve being rolled on itself in generally to- I0 

1. A chignon foundation, including a resilient synthetic fiber mass contained in a generally toroidal fabric cover and having a through center opening, and an elastic band secured to said cover about said opening.
 2. A chignon foundation in accordance with claim 1, wherein said mass of synthetic fiber contained in said cover is a fabric sleeve of resilient synthetic monofilament rolled on itself in the form of a generally toroidal filler in said cover.
 3. A chignon foundation in accordance with claim 1, wherein said cover and said contained mass are parts of a knit sleeve rolled into itself in a generally toroidal form.
 4. A chignon foundation in accordance with claim 1, wherein said cover and said contained mass are parts of a knit fabric sleeve doubled over itself lengthwise to form two walls connected at an annular fold, the double-walled sleeve being Rolled on itself in generally toroidal fashion to form said mass and said cover, and wherein said elastic band is contained in said annular fold.
 5. A chignon foundation in accordance with claim 4, wherein the synthetic fiber is of monofilamentary nylon whose resilience and denier enables the foundation when in use in a bun to impart a feel like a bun formed wholly of natural hair. 